


Army Barbie

by cheddarpenguin



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2020-03-19 22:26:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18979579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheddarpenguin/pseuds/cheddarpenguin
Summary: In which Hiccup meets Astrid, a United States Army soldier, at a bar. Their future ensues.





	Army Barbie

**Author's Note:**

> hi i wrote this in a hurry just to get myself motivated to write more

He hadn’t even noticed her at first.

He had been occupied at the bar: nursing a drink, watching the Vikings versus Dragons baseball game, and talking to Fishlegs about work. He was having a perfectly pleasant evening and wasn’t otherwise distracted by anything.

But as soon as Fishlegs left him at the start of the seventh inning, Hiccup glanced around the bar and saw her.

Her. Her with the shiny blonde braid. And the wide, beautiful, amused eyes. And muscular arms gripping a beer--a good beer, at that.

He tried desperately to return his attention to the baseball game, but he couldn’t take his eyes or mind off of the blonde. She was chatting with the black-haired girl and the two extremely buff dudes, laughing and gasping and laughing some more as they held a strong conversation for the next two innings of the game.

Hiccup wasn’t as shy about talking to girls as he was a couple of years ago, but she was different. Something about her commanded respect and discipline. Her posture was stiff and straight and perfect. She could definitely beat the shit out of him if she wanted to. He could respect that.

That, and she seemed occupied with the two guys she was talking to. He didn’t want to ruin their conversation by asking for her number or something, so he turned back to his drink and the game.

It was the last inning of the game, and Hiccup was growing more tired by the minute. The Vikings were up by two runs, and he was about to pay his tab and head out when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

He saw blue, blue, blue eyes.

“Hi,” she said, and it’s like his entire body forgot how to function properly.

“Hi,” he said, turning toward her and his heart rate doubling.

Gods, she was a hundred times more beautiful up close. Those freckles, eyelashes, nose…

“I watched you ogle me for an hour. Figured I might as well get your name.”

Hiccup’s heart rate tripled. If it weren’t for the dim lighting in the bar, she’d be able to see his cheeks turn cherry red.

“Whoa, w-wait… no, I didn’t mean… listen…” Hiccup stammered out an utterly incoherent excuse.

She smiled and his heart did a flip. “I’m just messing with you. Are you saving a seat for anyone?”

“Absolutely not!” Hiccup assured, sitting up straighter and fixing the collar to his shirt.

“Cool.” She slid onto the stool next to him and tapped her bottle with her nails. “I’m Astrid.”

Of course her name was Astrid. Didn’t Astrid mean “divine beauty”? Hiccup couldn’t think of a more perfect--yet also badass--name for her.

“Hiccup. And yes, my parents hated me.”

Astrid wrinkled her nose in amusement. “Hey, it’s unique.”

They sat in a silence for a beat, though it wasn’t awkward. The commotion of the bar and the work of the bartender in front of them was distracting enough. But Hiccup was going to try his best to keep a conversation with her.

“So, are you new in town?” he asked, twiddling his fingers around his drink. “Berk’s not exactly the biggest place, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you here before.”

Astrid nodded, resting an elbow on the counter. “Yeah, I actually just got stationed at the base in Berserk. I’ve only been here about a week.” She took a drink. “My friends wanted to make the drive to Berk to see what was around. And if there were any good bars.”

That explained a lot. She was in the army. The posture, muscles, discipline came from the military. Hiccup felt a surge of respect and admiration toward her.

“That’s super cool. Thanks for your service.”

The base in Berserk was about twenty miles south of Berk, so the soldiers didn’t often trek up to the lazy village Berk. Hiccup thought it was cool how she and her friends drove all this way for no reason other than to find a good bar.

Astrid gave a small smile.

Conversation flowed like a stream. After Hiccup uncovered Astrid’s backstory--an overachieving student and athlete who graduated West Point three years prior--Astrid set out to dig up his own backstory. Hiccup felt a little insecure; his story, he felt, wasn’t nearly as exciting. Opposed to graduating a prestigious military academy with a degree in Defense and Strategic Studies (he even didn’t know that kind of major existed) and traveling the world, his computer science degree from the state university an hour away from Berk sounded a lot more boring.

She looked more interested than he thought she would.

“I know, I’m lame.” Hiccup smiled sheepishly as he finished talking. “But I like my work, I have a good job with good friends, and had a fun time in college.”

“I don’t think you’re lame at all,” Astrid said, shaking her head. “I think it’s cool that you’re good with computers. I’m definitely not. And you obviously like it and are good at it, and that’s pretty cool.”

He liked the way she thought.

Talking to her was easy. They connected like magnets. Hiccup forgot about the baseball game that he was so invested in before. She had his full attention.

They hadn’t even realized that the bartender was starting to clean up and that people were starting to trickle out the door. It was very late at night and the bar was soon closing.

Hiccup offered to pay her tab, but she refused and almost paid his tab. They walked out into the cool night, the stars winking down upon them. Astrid’s friends had left her, as they had driven back to Berserk almost an hour and a half earlier. Thinking about how he had no plans the next day and had no reason to get up early, Hiccup offered to drive her. She accepted.

The half-hour drive consisted of talking about everything from parents to high school stories to sports teams to pets to ideal retirement locations. Hiccup liked her more and more each second that passed, and when his old car rumbled to a stop in front of a small apartment building, he found panicking--he didn’t want this to be the last time he saw her.

“How long are you here for?” he asked Astrid she gathered her coat and her clutch.

“Three years.” She tucked a stray hair behind her ear.

Hiccup inhaled. “Can I see you again?”

“Yeah, I think you can.” Stunning smile and glowing blue eyes.

She kissed his cheek and thanked him for the ride and the night. His heart fluttered and his cheek tingled.

He made sure she got into her building safely before pulling away and driving back to Berk. Driving along the dark, barren roads, he knew that Astrid was special. He knew that wherever she went from then on, he was going to follow her.

**Author's Note:**

> I have 2 more parts planned but they're not done and idk when I'm gonna finish them! hopefully soon but no promises!!


End file.
